Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
MOUNT ST. HELENS NATIONAL MONUMENT, Wash. - As scientists warned that an eruption of Mount St. Helens appeared imminent Sunday, eager tourists camped out along park roads, hoping to catch a glimpse of the seething volcano without being overcome by ash and smoke.
A second long tremor early Sunday and an increase in volcanic gases strongly suggest magma is moving inside, researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey said. The mountain's alert was raised to Level 3, the highest possible, after a volcanic tremor was detected Saturday for the first time since before the mountain's 1980 eruption.
"I don't think anyone now thinks this will stop with steam explosions," geologist Willie Scott said Sunday at the Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash., about 50 miles south.
Scientists said they do not expect anything close to the devastation of the May 18, 1980, explosion, which killed 57 people and coated much of the Northwest with ash.
"Of course, the volcano reserves the right to change its mind," said monument scientist Peter Frenzen with the U.S. Forest Service.
Some experts had said Saturday that an explosion would probably happen within 24 hours. But as the hours passed, others cautioned that the timing is difficult to predict.
"No one is predicting it as a sure thing," said Bill Steele at the University of Washington's seismology lab in Seattle. "This could be going on for weeks."
Crowds gathered at what was said to be a safe distance - about 8.5 miles from the mountain - to see what happens next. Barbecues were fired up and impromptu entrepreneurs were selling hot dogs and coffee to people camped along the side of the road in lawn chairs and pickup beds.
"It'd be neat if it spews something over and out," said Chris Sawyer, 40, of Dundee, Ore., who had a large camera set up on a tripod at the Coldwater Ridge Visitors Center.
Hundreds of people were cleared from a popular observatory closer to the peak Saturday following a tremor and brief release of steam.
"It's beyond amazing," said Steven Uhl, 31, a self-described volcano nut from Everett who traveled to the Coldwater site. "Just to be here is almost a religious experience."
The mountain was outwardly quiet at midday. Clouds of dust rose occasionally, caused by rockfall from the towering canyon walls.
But earthquakes were occurring "multiple times per minute," Steele said, peaking every few minute at magnitudes as high as 3.
Scientists were unsure how explosive the eruption may be; depending on the gas content of the magma and conditions, it could range from a passive emission to a column of ash, Scott said.
Besides lava flows, ash and rock-throwing, an eruption could cause melting of the volcano's 600-foot-deep glacier and trigger debris flows to the barren pumice plain at the foot of the mountain.
Gas-sampling flights continued Sunday, and acoustic equipment had been placed around the crater. Dozens of Global Positioning System satellite stations - to alert scientists to changes in ground formation - have been placed on the mountain, though Friday's steam blast destroyed equipment on the 1,000-foot lava dome.
Most of the action has occurred beneath the dome, which has been building up on the crater floor and essentially serves as a plug for magma, or molten rock. The dome is filled with lava that came up during 1998 earthquakes but never surfaced. New lava may be coming up as well.